Traditional telephony relies on the use of telephone numbers to route call requests to a desired recipient. 800 numbers, 900 numbers, group pickup, call forwarding, all allow a specific desired recipient or group of recipients, to be reached based on digits dialed by the calling party, which then undergo number translation (e.g. to a regional 800 destination), or predetermined fan-out (as in group pickup).
800 numbers are implemented in the Public Switched Telephone (PSTN) system via a lookup on a database resident on a Signaling Control Point (SCP). This database maps an 800 number to a physical telephone number. This is accomplished through Signaling System 7 (SS7) signaling which takes the digits entered by the user, and invokes a lookup on the number translation database. The physical PSTN number that is returned is used to do the connection setup. Lookup for 900 calls is similar except for the charging mechanism. Both 800 and 900 number translations rely on a pre-determined (ignoring dynamic personal state) translation. 800 numbers and 900 numbers require that the calling party dial the digits associated with the desired call recipient.
Call forwarding is a service whereby the terminating switch on the path to the called party replaces the original number with a second number that is programmed by the owner of the original number. Call forwarding is thus another form of number translation that is programmed by the end user. Call forwarding requires that calling party dial the digits associated with the desired call recipient.
Call centers are a way that many operators can respond when customers dial a single phone number. Offered by enterprises, or as a telecom service, an incoming call is routed to an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) which can then routed the call to one of many physical telephones. The selection of a target telephone may be done by one of many algorithms including longest idle, or skills based routing. Target phones traditionally have been collocated with the ACD, but advances in communication have made distributed call centers feasible. Call centers are generally employed by enterprises or by carriers (e.g. for directory assistance). Call centers are reached when the calling party dials the digits associated with that termination.
Traditional telephony requires that the calling party enter an identification indicating the desired recipient in order to make this connection—either a telephone number, a speed dial sequence such as *n where n is a digit or digit string (usually only one or two digits), a spoken name previously associated with a dial number (e.g. as in voice activated dialing), etc. The advent of VoIP protocols such as H323 and SIP (session initiation protocol) allows this to be extended past the traditional PSTN to internet protocol (IP) addresses or other allowed designations; VoIP protocols extend the telephony paradigm to the IP world. To reach an IP destination, a calling user must provide an indication of the desired party to be reached.
The Telephone Number Mapping standard, called ENUM, is a specification to map telephone numbers from the Internet. For a “voice over IP” (VoIP) call, (which by definition originates on the Internet side) that aims to reach a PSTN user, the VoIP call must terminate at a IP-PSTN gateway. ENUM allows for dynamic selection of such a gateway based on the destination PSTN Number. ENUM lookups are accomplished via DNS; in this case, the DNS (Domain Name System), which is the host/service naming and lookup scheme used in the Internet, maps a PSTN number to the name of the Internet host that serves as a gateway to the desired PSTN number.
CTI or computer-telephony integration refers to programming a PSTN interface connected to a computer; a computer is typically connected to a data network, and thus providing a PSTN interfaced card allows a computer to interact with the PSTN network. CTI basically enables a computer to act as an endpoint of the PSTN network, i.e. it appears to be a phone to the PSTN network. The aim of CTI, as the name suggests, is to enable computer applications to be extended to use services from the PSTN network.
The use of a person's location in communications and computer applications is not uncommon today. Users of cell phones are offered services tailored to the location of the cell phone. Examples include emergency 911 calls, movie listings for local theaters, traffic conditions, nearby gasoline sales, etc. The Hertz Company equips some of its rental cares with an interactive device that uses the rental car's location to offer navigation clues to the driver. Research labs have prototyped electronic tour guides on mobile devices for museums, small cities, and retail stores that also use device location to tailor end user services.
We're also used to communications applications that use the context of the person who is the intended target of a communiqué to influence a communications request. A simple example is the busy signal that we've all heard with we attempt to phone someone who's already on the phone. Newer variations on that theme can be experienced when one attempts to contact a person's mobile communication device. For example Nextel's so called DirectConnect® phones chirp in different ways depending on the state of the target person's device.
Communications applications can also show some information about the calling party. For example many phone services offer a feature known as caller ID that provides the calling parties telephone number.
Data from a myriad of physical sensors can extend context beyond location and device activity. Examples include atmospheric measurements, light level, sound pressure level, audio feature analysis, weight and pressure, motion detectors, magnetic door and window switches, etc. Personal medical sensors can also provide data on a variety of physiological measures including pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature, electronic impulse activity and resistance, etc. A familiar example of such an application is the so-called lie detector machine.
Context-aware computing has included message and call delivery, based on recipient (eg called party). Two examples are the Etherphone system from Xerox® Parc and Active Badge system from Olivetti®, both of which route an incoming call based on the called party's location. The Active Messenger system (AM) from MIT routes an incoming message to a suitable device near the called party, e.g. pager, phone, fax. However, the routing in these cases is not done based on attributes of the caller.
Traditional telephony requires that the calling party recall numbers or access codes for desired called parties. With many potential called parties this becomes difficult. Speed dialing provides simple access, but still requires that the calling party recall access codes and further requires a prior number selection and association with the speed dialing code. What is needed is a way to simplify access for the calling party to reach appropriate called parties, responsive to current calling party status, such as expected appointments.
Voice calling requires that the calling party recall names or designations of called parties. With many potential called parties, this becomes difficult. What is needed is a way to simplify access for the user to appropriate recipients.
Calendars may be available on different devices including paper calendars, PDA based calendars and so on. These can allow a user to determine the appropriate person to call based on expected appointments, but these may require reading, reentering numbers into a phone, and so on. What's needed is a way of reaching people based on caller context (eg expected appointments).
Further, determining an appropriate person may require an understanding of roles and assignments. What's needed is a way of reaching such called parties based on their roles, independent of their phone number or IP address.
Rules based routing—Calls once received (e.g. at a help desk) may be routed to an appropriate destination (e.g. operator) based on rules such as time of day (for night shutdown), based on perceived content of the call (e.g. based on origination, route to appropriate operator with correct linguistic skills), based on calling line id (eg route to assigned CRM rep for this customer). This mechanism is all called side determined. What is needed is a way to determine a called objective based on callers context.
What is needed is a method and system which makes it easier to use corporate data, such as calendar information, assignment lists, etc. to make more effective voice calls; and which uses the context to both the called and calling parties.